For Angel Beats, Key decided to go into a completely different direction: no more visual novels but instead a straight-up anime production, instead of being a straight-up drama, it tosses in all kinds of different genres, it’s got a much more upbeat mood than any other Key work so far, but at the same time it still has some of the elements that made Air and Clannad so addictive. It’s definitely a great premise in theory.

It’s a comedy, adventure story, action series, drama, and sometimes also a romance and slice of life series, but at its core Angel Beats is a full fledged mystery-series. The characters are thrown into a setting they know nothing about, and gradually it unfolds its true nature. Really, the biggest reason why you’d want to watch this series is for the creativity, and the large amount of ideas that the creators tried to put into it. They really tried to create an original world with a lot of depth behind it, and the mystery itself is written quite skillfully to make optimal use of how it unfolds, resulting in a great climax.

The rest of the series would be best described as ‘chaos’, both in the good and in the bad ways. Over thirteen episodes, the pacing is really all over the place. It makes for a number of interesting episodes, but at times the series also just stops trying to make sense. A lot of scenes are just disjointed from each other, and this series hops from one plot twist to the other without much of a transition.

Unfortunately, Key just had way too many ideas that it wanted to put into just thirteen episodes. I think what suffers from this the most is the characterization: it’s often rushed and cheesy because of it, and while the cast as a whole is impressive and enjoyable to watch, nearly all of the characters are rushed through so that only two of them get some actual time to tell their story. The rest of the (for 13 episodes) HUGE cast has their moments in which they just don’t work or connect when they should.

These pacing and rushed issues really prevent this series from standing out, but nevertheless it has quite a bit to like, and its ideas will keep you busy as long as you don’t expect too much of it as a key series. While good, it didn’t have the “oomph” that I experienced with the Air and Clannad TV-series and movies.

Storytelling:

8/10 – Good mystery, very varied, but also rushed.

Characters:

7/10 – The cast shines as a whole, but most of the individual characters lack attention.

Production-Values:

9/10 – Excellent animation and visuals, especially the money shots.

Setting:

9/10 – Original settings. It may have a few plot-holes, but the creativity put into it more than makes up for it.

33 Responses

I’m actually surprised how you could manage to give such a high rating for this series.
I mean, even though DRRR didn’t make the best of it’s source material, does it really deserve to be put on the same level as Angel Beats?!

Maybe we just got a different understanding of what a series should have. While you praised the fact how many things it tried to do, I found that very tiring after a while and it always kept the series from arriving anywhere.
The finale was just pulled from a tophat along with a very flashy bunny to divert us from the fact that it does not make much sense.
And as someone already pointed out on the comments for episode 13, the organ donor plot hole was even worse.

Not only that, it featured an immense cast of which more than 50% stayed even below characterized. They were just there to deliver lines in certain scenes…

I have to admit, I’m not a large fan of Key and I only really liked AIR. But even when I put my bias as much into the back as I can, this show is just sub-par in terms of planning and execution.
It’s not that I don’t want you to like it, it’s just strange to see it so high up in the rating range.

Actually I’m surprised too, even if I love this series, I thought your rating would be much more severe because of the repetition gags you didn’t enjoyed or the pacing issues.Hmmm I don’t know how to say it, I’m glad you said the “truth” that’s why I read your blog.

“It’s a comedy, adventure story, action series, drama, and sometimes also a romance and slice of life series, but at its core Angel Beats is a full fledged mystery-series.”

Thank you for understanding that, psgels! Some writers can really lose focus when they try so many genres, but, in this case, they pulled all of those in a quite fluid way.

And about the lack of characterization of the rest of the cast, @chounokoe, I don’t really see that as a flaw. IMO, considering the number of episodes, most of them were indeed put there just to deliver one-liners and for comedy value, but the fact that we got interested shows that even side characters doesn’t have to be 2D…

I think psgels gave this such a high rating because it was ambitious and tried to be creative, while DRRR chose to be on the safe side with its second half.

Overall this series felt as if somebody created an utterly fantastic 26 episode series and had to truncate it into only 13 episodes. The result is that while the scope of this series is very large, the show really struggles to deliver on it.

Wow I’m glad to see such a well rounded review. There are some people who focused in on the negative aspects of the show and ignored the positives, and others who ignored the negatives and just relished in the positives. I’m glad to see someone who takes both sides into account and gives his opinion. I agree with you in that it’s a good show overall and fun to watch, but it’s not nearly on the masterpiece level. Previous key works like Clannad had much more oomhp and etc, but for 13 eps I’d say AB did pretty well despite it’s numerous glaring flaws.

Angel Beats! was quite a project. You had a lot of music, with accompanying singles, animated musical performances, and whatnot. From that enterprise I got to enjoy the animation, “My Soul, Your Beats!” and “Brave Song.” The instrumental version of the latter is pretty nice.
The anime itself has serious compression artifacts, and up until episode 9 it was repetitively missing the mark due to the humor whiplash. Episode 9 seems to be the high point for the show, but I think the episodes after that are OK, even if rushed. Even the jokes worked for me better after they stopped trying to cram them in. If they had invested more money for a longer series or tried to do less, the whole thing may have been a lot smoother.

The show could use a reboot. I liked watching it, but their ambition was too big for their budget.

It’s true that the action in Angel Beats is all over the place and that is somewhat of a liability, but each of those episodes tells us about the world works. The varied nature helps keep it from being repetitive while it does the explaining.

On an unrelated note, I find that most criticisms of this anime out there stem from those critics’ desire to see every single detail explained LOTR-style – the story behind every character, thorough explanation for every plot point, even the story behind the creation of the world. This is an unrealistic expectation. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having dozens of characters and focusing on two or three, or not explaining every little detail about the plot and the world. For a 13-episode series, the story is remarkably complete.

The enjoyment of this series also depends on the realistic expectation on the viewer’s part. This anime is really one of the most excellent animes out there.

My main gripe with Angel Beats was its relentless attempt at creating (or rather forcing) melodrama. How the hell should I care so much about these characters when they’re one-dimensional and the drama is all character-based?

I liked Angel Beats!, it is one of the best things I have watched this season and nobody will change my opinion about that. But I still read the critics because I like to see what other people think. It’s true, the story is a little rushed, especially at the end, but it is still a good series. I have noticed that a lot of the negative opinions of the final episode, come from a misunderstanding of its plot.
-SPOILERS AHEAD-

Sure, the donor is contra intuitive, one could think, prima facie that it doesn’t make any sense. How could Kanade be there to thank Otonashi for the heart he gave to her if she arrived earlier? Well, if you think about it, it can be possible. Otonashi had no memories when he got to this afterlife, it is possible to think that his soul wandered for days, months, years of real world time before getting to the afterlife, remember that Otonashi wasn’t meant to be there in the first place. It was possible for Kanade to arrive first, maybe she died shortly after receiving Otanashi’s heart at went directly to the school. When that made sense, you can see that everything in the end did! Why didn’t Otonashi disappear when he fully regained his memories? Why Kanade wasn’t able to disappear? I think it was beautifully planned by the one who made this anime. Sure, it could have been better, it is rushed, it needed to be an 26 episodes, it tried to do too much for an anime that would be so short (because of this, some episodes felt rushed or were even incoherent). I think the characters where also thought to be developed, but you can’t do that in only 13 episodes. It would have been nice to have a episode 14 so we could see how everyone disappeared instead of just knowing they did and it would be even better to have a episode 15 to know what happenen to them after that, but it’s still good.
As betawatcher said, the only mistake the creator made was that they didn’t make this series a 26-episodes one. Overall, I think Angel Beats deserves the 82,5 rating. It could have been better, it has more holes than a Swiss cheese, and it is still that good and had the potential to be even better. Personally, loved the show.

Whilst I liked this show, I thought it read more like a rough draft or short story – this wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that there were lots of great characters, interesting concepts and opportunity for something deeper within the setting.

I liked it, but it’s one of many anime recently that have this potential and never give themselves the chance to really make the most of it. I would have liked to know more about the side-characters, see some more interesting antagonistic qualities, and generally just see the AB world’s interesting qualities much more.

Reading through Animesuki was generally bad. But it was actually visiting nihonreview forums that was a total nightmare. Those people say the most disgusting things regarding Angel Beats. They treated it like trash – like dirt to be spat on. I am not even looking for someone to agree with me. I just want people to see the show from a level-headed perspective, see the good and the bad, then appreciate it for what it is.

If only some of these people would take a look at some of the stupid things that most Japanese people laugh at, or some of their most popular shows. Perhaps then, they might finally take Angel Beats too in perspective.

It was pretty good except for the fact that the anime couldn’t build up anything >_>.. except for the final twist with Ootanashi and Kanade, which was a pretty good twist indeed :D.. it could’ve have been close to 90 if it had been over 20+ episodes.

Otonashi arrived after Kanade, as she’s still (half)alive. She’s like Shigofumi: a soul that departed from her body because of an illness. She’s an Ikiryou.
Thes kind of ghosts are pretty common in anime, but they’re hardly understood by western fandom as they’re peculiar to japanese only miths. Other Ikiryou are Clannad’s Fuko Ibuki and Kanon’s Ayu Tsukimiya. These shows are also Key’s production by any chance :)

And while the show isn’t terrible, it really suffered by little developement and lack of pacing and direction. I hope they’ll redo from scratch like they did it for Kanon, as Angel Beats was rather promising.

Angel Beats was a simple premise that was poorly fleshed-out and even more poorly executed. It felt like they had a core story long enough for a 4-6 episode OVA, but had to fill out 13 episodes. Then they overshot that mark and designed something meant for 24+ episodes. They sure didn’t have a clue what to do with it, as they’re always jumping around hoping we’ll be distracted by some pointless new distraction.

I can’t be kind about it. Angel Beats is a total mess. It’s rife with awful writing and bland characters. It only gets by because of it’s over-reliance on writing cliche. It has Maeda’s trademark ridiculous hyperdrama, and a ton of superfluous expy-like characters without a purpose. It’s Hollywood hack writing in anime form, and if it’s success is any indication we’re destined for more of it.

But you know what? People clearly don’t care. And frankly, neither do I. I’ve given Maeda enough of my attention, ditto PA Works. Since neither of them can create an anime that isn’t mediocre, this just gives me two names to avoid when picking up series in the future (unless PA Works gets back to just animating anime for other studios).

Honestly this is one of The best animes I have ever watched, I really wish it would have just kept going on. Hopefully sometime in the future they can come up with another cast and story line and make a second angel beats

I liked Angel Beats! even though the episodes didn’t make coherent sense sometimes (most of the time), to me I was only really paying attention to Yuri, Kanade, and Yuzuru anyway. From the beginning I could tell that it was going to center on those three, and to me the rest of the characters were just extras when they were by themselves. I did feel a few pangs in my chest when I was watching their individual stories (the ones I got to watch, instead of all those who just magically disappeared with no camera time), so that was a plus for me.

Now about the last episode… That fourth guy, the on that makes the jokes, should not have been there at all. As far as I’m concerned he should have vanished with the girl who filled in as lead singer when the original disappeared. When he came back the next episode, I was kinda feeling a bit of (a lot of) “WTF?”
Other than that, I liked it a lot lol, could have been done better, but the whole series could have been done better. I don’t want to seem the copy-cat, but everyone else here is right, the studio was just too ambitious for the amount of episodes they were able to make, I think that the whole concept is great, but I hate those shows that just does things, half explains it, and then cuts them out of the rest of the story-line altogether (that half goes to Code Geass R2… LULU LIVES).

If Key doesn’t remake this or doesn’t churn out 2+ very good OVA’s that actually explain in an easy to understand manner, I will be very disappointed.

the ending was sad. ;( lol i wish they had included more episodes. or maybe increase the storyline for a sequel or OVA or somethin!!! O___O
for me, this anime just lacked the detailed description of the characters. >,…,

oh btw O.0 lmao the end was weird. thought something will happen b/w yuzuru and yuri. …..oh wait. meh >_> i guess i predicted too much just after seeing him say ‘why does she smell so nice O_O *blush* ‘

I personally loved Angel Beats because the story felt unique. A world in the afterlife where you can’t die.(because they’re already dead) There is Yurippe who leads a group of people trying to fight against a God or whatever other great force there is out there that gave them an unfair life. A rather interesting goal that they had in mind.

@JustWon Hinata(the blue hair guy) didn’t disappear because he had something he needed to finish up, which he says he wanted to help Otonashi in his quest to allow others to move on. I would consider that another one of Hinata’s regrets.

I hear a lot of about how there needs to be more character development/deep story telling but remember that there are main characters and sub characters. Stories have a main focus on a certain person or certain people. In Angel Beats the story focused around Otanashi which is why he seemed to have the most indepth story telling of his memories before he died.

There will be important characters and less important characters. If every single Battlefront member had their history told then they would start to become more of a main character. That isn’t possible because you will always have characters with more key roles than others.(Yurripe as leader for example) Developing many characters is nice but what’s the point of telling the history of a character when they’re rarely going to be used anyways. Take the band members for example. Why bother telling their story when they only show up when commencing operation tornado.

Now I will say that although they can’t get all of the characters’ backgrounds told they could have gotten more in detail about Yurripe. They never explained how she died or what happened after that incident, how she made a living or acted at school.

Also I don’t get what’s up with this and that about Clannad more “oomph”. Clannad was a notable series but in my eyes(yes we see the world of anime differently) it was just another anime about friends at school and 2 of them liking each other because they hung out so much.

I loved this anime. Romance, action, friendships, guns, and comedy. What the hell isn’t there to like? One thing that really captured my attention was the fact that this has been the only tear jerker in my entire life (entertainment wise) But then I watched the ending so kinda fixed the mood.

I loved this anime. Romance, action, friendships, guns, and comedy. What the hell isn’t there to like? One thing that really captured my attention was the fact that this has been the only tear jerker in my entire life (entertainment wise) But then I watched the ending so kinda fixed the mood.

I felt it was a great series, I don’t understand why everyone whines so much. No i don’t need every single character’s lifestory annoying flashed back to buffer the series length. (cough Naruto cough). For example I found that TK was a fun enjoyable character who only revealed how much he actually knew with his little one liners. I was happy with that and didn’t see the need to know about all the facts of his life. And he turned out to be one of my favorites. I’m glad that only the main characters got to explain their situation.

If it had been 26 eps you people would be whining about repetition of the characters sob stories. Yes the plot progresses a little quickly, but it does so in a progressive manner (I never felt lost at any stage). I feel that is better than dragging it out more than necessary.

I found the distinct lack of explanations only added to the mystery, and I think the only reason everyone gave such negative comments is because it left us hungry for more. The ending was satisfying and since i did not expect the final twist it left me in a state of shock. Which is rare achievement for the entertainment industry these days.

Just finished watching this series. I didn’t expect much of it, but it has left such a huge impression on me.

The humour in the anime was what kept me going in the first few episodes, with the timing of it done very well, and made me chuckle quite a bit.

What was the most impacting thing of this series was the plot, and when the ending came and the entire thing unfolded before me, I was utterly satisfied. The anime is definitely like a mystery-series, and each plot twist was surprising.

Most characters weren’t explored in detail at all, but I still enjoyed each one. Especially Yuri, who manages to be a strong leader even though she has gone through so much hardship.

The ending was the most emotionally wrenching part though. I’m not going to spoil it, but when it was revealed, I was tempted to cry and was mind-blown at the same time.

I normally find it hard to let go of an anime I find good, but when it comes to Angel Beats, it’s the most hardest anime I’ve ever found to let go of. The ending was satisfactory, yes, but the emotion I felt was something I find hard to let go. I almost wish there would be a season 2 even though I don’t see at all how the series could possibly continue. Guess I’ll just have to be satisfied with what I’ve seen.

i liked this series a lot and based on the reviews of this site , umm sorry -_- this site gives tar driver 80/100 , it was such a shit , a complete shit anime, n i do think some of your reviews sucks , simply

Roughly the first half: Enjoyed the comedy and animation and all. Great cast doing funny and unexpected stuff. An absolutely brilliant anime in this part.

Second half: The fairly cool “villain” is no longer. The show gets way more serious and less light-hearted. A bunch of episodes fleshing out a few people, a lot of things that seem like important plot points started… but then immediately comes filler, next and everything is wrapped up with a mostly forced dramatic ending that really made little sense in so many ways (events, character relations, setting … all very contreived) – but it should have in a series that takes this serious tone. For all the second part of the series, only the final ceremony was actually working quite well, but given how the show got there, even that wasn’t quite as strong as it would have been otherwise.

Indeed, a much longer series or having the second half cut entirely would probably have been better.

My one and only issue was not knowing who da heck TK (i hope i got his name right..been a while for show) really was..beside that i loved it and cried like a little biatch at end and for quite a few other moments.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: I'm not wholly against fillers if they are done correctly, sometimes they can be a short moment of peace in a characters hellish life, sometimes they can be amusing or flesh out characters or allow good character chhemistry.

Kaiser-Eoghan
That time I got reincarnated an daikmura in another world =)

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: I remember there is a review somewhere on this blog of an anime adaptation of Les Miserables, I've only seen the film 1990s adaptation though. I wonder if any of those classic book anime adaptations are actually worth watching?

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: I may have sounded like I was being down on Mahou Asuka, the manga became a decent guilty pleasure, I agree with you on action and pace but I prefer the anime designs, though I stopped watching the anime because of the speedlines/animation/pace, the dub is hilarious though.

Vonter
I do wonder if there has ever been stated how much time or pages you have in either medium. Since that was mentioned in the adaptation of Les Miserables, 300 pages to fit all one could of that novel, even joking about how a character only appeared in one page because of that limitation.

Vonter
Overlord is another one I wonder if it might work better as a visual novel. Mainly because the anime is dialogue heavy and where I think it has stumbled is that it has a lot of characters to ever give the needed time to develop each of them. Season 2 had several episodes focusing on a weak lizardman tribe.

Vonter
Mahou Asuka, I think it might work better in manga format. The anime while not the worst thing, drags a lot for what it has delivered. The manga I think it has better art, composition, but it mainly comes and goes way faster. Because it supposed to be more action than narrative in this case. It could be said the same thing of Triage.

Vonter
I've been thinking about the use of time and narrative time in both manga and anime. I suppose the anime studios have to hit a certain number of episodes which demand stretching the run of a story in any way. Filler episode? Several episodes to build up a dramatic scene? Bringing something that doesn't add anything important?

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Lenlo: Actually I can sort of understand how you feel, after I read the flashbacks to dororo's parents , the some chapter after felt a bit inferior to that.

Lenlo
I appreciate the keepin me in check though! Sometimes writing these posts makes me feel I have to be "critical" and I think that can skew my writing at times.

Lenlo
Like I said Kaiser, I feel that whatever Dororo did this week would have to live up to episode 6, and that was a nigh impossible task. I still enjoy the series, it just had a bit of a hitch for me is all.,

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Lenlo: Dororo's anime will give you a confrontation with the brother, curb your expectations with Daigo, Dororo's past is excellent. But it will still do episodic stuff.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: I actually watched it alongside reading those mahou shoujo Asuka chapters due to you putting both in the same sentence.

Vonter
Kinda like the Batman series of the 90s. Which happens to have better stories and characters plus the dark atmosphere.

Vonter
Yeah, it's hard to explain but it's a series I'll recommend in regards to the mood and atmosphere it conveys, moreso than the story or characters. It makes me wish that some other anime with better stories had a bit more weight in terms of atmosphere since I think this one does it with very few elements.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: I remember a mazinger reference in there too, also one of the buildings says Dagon on it, which fits very well I think.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: It felt like a full series take on a ova that I always wanted.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: the 90s artstyle/lighting/atmosphere definitely helped and there was some of the psychological bit in there.

Vonter
Also I might be wrong, but I can't recall a female counterpart that has ever exceeded the original. So by design Devilman Lady has an uphill battle, but I do like that she's not an Akira 2.0 the character has her own conflicts and ore than the monsters it seems to be a duality between her supermodel job and her actual self. Which at least its something.

Vonter
@Kaiser-Eoghan - I'm glad at least it kept your interest. Devilman Lady while not as infuential it's an interesting time capsule of the type of horror in the 80s. It's a bit sci fi and a bit supernatural like the Guyver. What standed out to me was the mood, it sort of leaves you in a trance when it just let the visuals and music immerse you.

Kaiser-Eoghan
Also, Return of the king/Kaiser and stuff, new computer arrived early.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Amagi: I read the recent beastars chapters, though I hope they eventually get back to focusing on Haru x legosi soon.

Kaiser-Eoghan
They finally translated another 7 seeds chapter, I think its nearing its endgame.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: There was a hilariously dumb scene where one of the mascots pull out double guns.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: Some 4channer posted further on scans from magical girl spec ops, I read 5 volumes, doesn't have much of plot, they explained who cyborg guy was and introduced another magical girl villain with a shitty childhood and some obvious hinting as to who The queen is.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: That is isn't the original devilman, nor does it exceed it.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Vonter: My spare laptop managed to survive long enough for me to marathoned devilman lady, albeit in SD quality, I enjoyed it for what it was and that it never made a joke of its trashiness, Nagai's imagination in creature design continues to be fun. The only thing I can really call it out n is....

Kaiser-Eoghan
I've been continuing that manga by the author of aku no hana, the one about the kid with the psycho mother, its increasingly threatening.

Kaiser-Eoghan
Also, regarding dororo, there was a chapter in the manga with some lord and a moth woman he unknowingly fell in with, this week was anime original but kind of had a human/monster relation thing going on, the manga was less sympathetic.

Kaiser-Eoghan
I liked the part between yuki and Kakeru , additionally, I'm looking forward to seeing the full background for Haiji aswell. I'm running out of things to say about the show.

Anonymous3444196
This last stretch of episodes is going to be good, so I heard from that novel reader. As long as the production doesn't derail itself, we're in for a treat.

Anonymous3444196
It's pretty obvious that with Haiji being the one running the final section of the Ekiden, that this might be his last.

Anonymous3444196
I do think that there'll be an episode of downtime between the episodes covering the 1st and 2nd days of the marathon. And maybe we'll finally get to see Haiji's past prior to his leg injury.

Anonymous3444196
So there's 5 episodes left, and it'll cover both days of the Ekiden since it's split into two sections. I heard from the novel reader that the 10th and final chapter is over 100 pages long, so having 5 episodes should be enough to cover everything. Shindo's running last in the 1st half but he's got a cold, which does bring some concern.

Anonymous3444196
Seems like a pretty slow week here. Anyhow, in this Kaze ga ,we're at the final stretch before the Ekiden next episode. Really liked Fujioka's speech at the start. They're also starting to unravel more on Haiji's past as well.

Kaiser-Eoghan
ahahahaha so that was it, she is voiced by Kana Hanazawa.

Kaiser-Eoghan
Something that came to mind when watching that quintuplets show, somehow the archetype I ended up going for was Ichika's character somehow. Never usually the case.

Kaiser-Eoghan
Y'know usually its fairly consistent, traits I notice/like/am attracted to most in a character's appearence and then there are those odd cases where I somehow end up finding a character attractive or something that I'd usually never.

Kaiser-Eoghan
New computer on its way now, 24 inch screen, wireless everything, 1000gb, got it for only 800 euro.

Kaiser-Eoghan
The current laptop I've got on loan I'm using is kind of a pain to use, makes doing anything including typing/posting/watching slow, its a ropey old windows millenium edition laptop that I'd stopped using years ago.@Amagi: Also a sequel to legend of koizumi has been translated.

Vonter
The cutscenes in that game kinda look a bit off, like with the Dragon Prince show they look a bit choppy.

Anonymous3425269
Personally, I'm really hoping that Orange did them so they can gain more recognition working on a big franchise.

Anonymous3425269
I'm guessing Orange, Polygon or GEMBA did the CG cutscenes for the new Fire Emblem. They look too different from Echoes' CG cutscenes to come from Khara.

Kaiser-Eoghan
It was always the second Zelda game I never played, that one is frowned upon.

Vonter
I see Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time as two halves of a single whole. Ocarina had the standard story but expanded from what was set in A Link to the Past. Majora's Mask has more in common to Link's Awakening being more about the characters you meet, and even Link himself. I think one has what the other doesn't. Ocarina had better dungeons, but Majora had more involved and menaningful sidequest.

Kaiser-Eoghan
The remastered ocarina of time soundtrack is some of my favourite videogame music out there.

Kaiser-Eoghan
I know its not ranked among the best Zelda games, but links awakening was the first zelda game I played in the early 90s, I also remember they re-released a colour version of it too that allowed you to do extra stuff with the gameboy camera and printer.

Vonter
So Nintendo had a Direct. A sequel to Mario Maker, a remake to Link's Awakening, a Tetris Battle Royale game, a new game from Platinum games called Astral Chain, a school type Fire Emblem, etc.

Kaiser-Eoghan
I guess if I was asked why I did anything, including if it was some game/sport or if I was a runner I'd probably answer the question by saying I was in it for a laugh or for a genuine good time because it'd be something I'd be enjoying.

Lenlo
@Kaiser, Dororo was awesome. This was a great week and arc. Mio is best girl.

Lenlo
Look, if the ending can make it work, I will forgive the CGI runners. But you have to admit, they don't look good

Anonymous3419991
@Lenlo But for now, you'll just have to grin and bear it when the next preliminary races prior to the Ekiden use CG for the background runners.

Anonymous3419991
I heard from a novel reader that the book is 10 chapters long, and this is currently adapting chapter 8. Chapter 10 covering the Ekiden is the longest part of the novel and will probably be covered in 3 episodes. Hope IG is saving all their resources on this finale judging by the CG used in previous episodes.

Anonymous3419991
It's also great to see how far Kurahana has come since the start. Even when confronting Sakaki being arrogant and all.

Anonymous3419991
And so this episode of Kaze ga is a breather episode, but we do get some more character development with the twins. It's nice to see Fujioka again.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Lenlo: I would happily have watched two more episodes of this arc in dororo.

Fuurophausiyuder
Speaking of loving hell fonts, I notice that the review body text, and this text here are both sans-serif; which sort of princess of variable typefaces is not present for this readability bit to land?

Fuurophausiyuder
Dororo is awesome for just the hell fonts. I kind of expect on-brand gazebos (the temple to the 10 demons) to sell well this summer at Lowe's, Restoration Hardware, RH, wherever it is actually okay stuff derives, etc. I was kind of hoping the transitional story would lift all transitional boats, but that storyline has gone to soil microbes in the USA diaspora (though you know, stay classy PR.)

Fuurophausiyuder
Kemurikusa is like Kemeko DX if all the chemicals were fentanyl and the promise of a plot muted by lingering death were only ever expected to be a possibility. What had anyone watching ep. 3...5? Clinical use?

Kaiser-Eoghan
I'm also glad that tv anime like this is allowed to be so violent in this day and age.

Kaiser-Eoghan
To be honest it really is the only new show this season I currently especially care about.

Kaiser-Eoghan
I decided to read the whole Dororo manga and I think this weeks episode was every bit as moving as the manga was while building on it. I think if adapted correctly dororo (the character)'s backstory, the stuff with Daigo's son will be a highlight. I do think they could get rid of shounen shark guy though later on and not bother including him.

Anonymous3415569
The other thing, is how both this and She Ra have the same premise of the main character changing from the villain to the heroic side. I don't know if that's a good pattern but it's and interesting way to build a female character in which the relationship with their old friends is a way to add pathos.

Anonymous3415569
It felt like a new version of inspector Gadget could be do like this. Considering how it frames the criminal organization (for kids). And also maybe a crossover could work?

Anonymous3415569
I watched the Carmen SanDiego Netflix series. It was ok. I did like the simple visual style and Saturday morning vibe. It's clearly more for a younger audience, yet it wasn't that boring. Still all I could think about while watching it were 2 things:

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Bothanons: Issues on both sides of the spectrum.@Wooper: Its the politest take you could get on that premise.@Mario: I think the anime skipped some stuff from the after the rain manga, I should probably read the manga.

SuperWooper
I heard that show was about a teenage girl's crush on an older man. Sounds pretty problematic to me. I'm with the rest of the Internet on this one.

SuperMario
Apparantly the other side of anime fandom (the internet) doesn’t watch Koi wa Ameagari

Lenlo
The reddit anime awards are done! I did it! I was on stream! Oh joy. Can talk about this now.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Niello: I have decided to adopt the same approach for the new True detective season also.

niello
@Eoghan: Exactly my thought three episodes in. I wish I realise it before I picked up the show, because I definitely need to watch those three episodes again.

Kaiser-Eoghan
I want to watch new boogiepop at some point, but I'm just hoping it ends so I can just marathon the show, it'd be too confusing to watch once a week, instead of straight through in one go.

Amagi
Oh I just realize it's the same team as HnK well that explains that.

Amagi
@Aidan: Unsure too about the trailer but it reminds me more of Houseki, qualitywise, and less of all the other bad CGI shows. I have hope. Same with Vinland. Trailer had some CGI and Thorkell's design feels a bit different but aside from that it was good.

SuperMario
Damn, just looked at the teaser of Beastars and I’m hooked. I’m hyped for the show

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Niello: Beastars is a good choice for them yes, as was Houseki no kuni, Majestic prince which they co-made was really underated back when it aired.

niello
I like how Orange Studio seems to have good eyes for manga. And it looks as if they are trying to go for stories that lets them avoid animating normal humans. So, ones that are more compatible with their CG visual. It'd be nice if this lead to some manga adaptation that won't happen otherwise.

Vonter
I think people get too worked up on Shield Hero. While not a great show, I have found it entertaining. I suppose the underdog aspect also got meta. With that said, I think if instead of the heroine reapplying the slave contract they should have made a contract or something like that, that felt one-sided.

Kaiser-Eoghan
I actually have more confidence in the cgi if its done by the houseki team.

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Aidan: When I talked to amagi about Beastars I don't think I ever heard your views on it. Also from what I recall you haven't read Vinland?

Kaiser-Eoghan
Years ago I read almost of Yoshihiro's stuff, although I never got around to finishing a drifting life by him, I also read that Mizuki guy manga i mentioned.

Kaiser-Eoghan
I've been wondering about this for a bit, is anyone on here familiar with the Gekiga period/wave of manga from the 50s and 60s to very early 70s? Such as stuff the by Yoshihiro Tatsumi and also Shigeru Mizuki's Onward toward noble death?

Kaiser-Eoghan
@Anon: I was right in there with them waiting to hear the results.

Kaiser-Eoghan
I'm glad that even though it showed then in a top ten list, they weren't up the top of it. Its more believable that way. Also who'd of though a race would be so tense?

Animosh
Also happy to see that the twins will get some spotlight next week. Aside from Musa they've had the least development so far, so they can use the attention. I also like that someone's finally raising the question what the point of it all is. If you have no chance of winning, why compete? It's a valid question, and I'm looking forward to hearing Haiji's answer.

Animosh
Haiji's injury was less of an issue than I expected: he even finished as "best of the rest" (excluding the leading group). Looks like it'll keep simmering under the surface for now. The fact that it was highlighted again probably means it is going to play a big role in the story eventually though.

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Star Crossed Anime Blog

Featured Posts

Welp, I’m back to the normal schedule now so my blogging will be back to normal from now on. My apology for those who waited for my weekly blogs for the last few weeks. For Kemurikusa, episode 6 was a slow one, even slower than its standard (and that says a lot), but the latest […]

Welcome to another week of Paranoia Agent! This week Kon explores different generations, Shounen Bat gets caught and the Old Lady becomes relevant. Lets dive in! After the bumpy reception I had towards last week’s episode, Paranoia Agent bounced back to wow me this week. Production wise, it was incredibly expressive this week. With the […]

Welcome to the big one, the start, the opening moments of Kaze Fui’s Hakone Ekiden! This week Fujioka drops some wisdom, the team learns their sections and Yuki gets some time with Kurahara. Lets jump in! This week was Kaze Fui’s big setup, along with some drops on Haiji’s background. Before we get to either of […]

Hello and welcome to what is, I believe, an anime original week of Dororo! This time we have a sympathetic ghoul, Hyakki dealing with his emotions and a continually worse feudal landscape. Lets jump in! Dororo was a rather disappointing one after last week, to be frank. Story wise there were some interesting ideas and […]

Hello and welcome to the halfway point of Mob Psycho Season 2! This week continues Reigen’s story as he rises high, falls low and comes to an epiphany. Lets jump in! Starting off, Mob Psycho once again looks fantastic. Say what you want about the story or characters, the quality of the animation is undeniable. […]

The treasurer of the student council, Ishigami Yuu, finally got a proper introduction this week. I’d say this episode was his time to shine, but it’s actually the opposite – he’s so preoccupied with Kaguya’s apparent hatred of him (as well as his own social faux pas) that it was actually his time to mope. […]

This week, once again, Paranoia Agent takes another interesting turn. This time we follow the cop who caught Shounen Bat, see a bit into organized crime and watch a man fall apart at the seams. Lets go! So in general, while this episode was interesting and explored some more aspects of society, I wasn’t big […]

For all of you who are disappointed that we didn’t cover the sequel to the show that even Elon Musk watches, I felt that this season of Kakegurui would benefit more from an periodic overview rather than following it week from week. Kakegurui was never about the mechanics nor tense stakes as it relies on […]

Welcome to the feel good relaxation week of Kaze Fui! This time the Twins confront Haiji, they see the track and Sakaki continues to be a dick. Lets jump in! Starting off, this episode was a very subdued one. Similar to Mob, Kaze Fui slowed down this week. Giving the characters room to breathe again […]

Latest Reviews

If there is one thing I have lost watching seasonal anime, it is patience. Every week I expect something to happen, some kind of payoff, to make watching that week worth it. Luckily, Planetes as brought that back to me. Its depth of writing, characters, and general structure belay an anime of a different age. […]

The controversial nature of this shows opening episode may have many turning away from it due to believing it’s nothing but shock value but that truly isn’t what Goblin Slayer is. I will say that the manga may hold some truth to that statement but thanks to some tasteful censoring(Yes, sometimes censoring can be a […]

Zombieland Saga was a show that came out of the gate guns blazing, no one expected it nor did anyone predict it but it left a strong impression when it first aired it’s starting episodes. Originally considered to be another zombie apocalypse anime, it overthrew expectations by turning out to be a zombie idol anime. […]

Let it be known that I’ve never been a fan of Trigger. For me, they’re one of the most style-with-no-substance studio on Earth with a tendency for god-awful fanservice, and total nonsense in terms of story and characters. Yet GRIDMAN completely caught me off guard in the first two episodes, and from there, there was […]

If anyone has been familiar with the first season of Thunderbolt Fantasy, you’d find yourself a lot to enjoy in this second installment. Served as a sequel, but not a direct continuation to the first, viewers don’t need the knowledge of the original in order to enjoy this ride. Thunderbolt 2 carries many trademarks that […]

In the last few years, it’s great to see P.A Works has slowly created their own studio identity, putting more original works with consistent production values. Just in 2018, they produced 4 shows (quite a good number if you ask me), 3 of them were original: Maquia, Sirius the Jaeger and Irozuku. As I said, […]

In the wake of many a school based light novel show this may be the small bits of fresh air was can savor out of this overdone setting. Rascal does not dream of Bunny Girl(Or by its japanese title above) is a series not about rascals or bunny girls but instead about contextualising common high […]

Some days, I wonder what it is with America and anime about organized crime. Baccano!, 91 Days, Blood Blockade Battlefront, all set in America, all involving criminal underworlds. Today, I get to add another to that list in the form of Banana Fish. Much more grounded than the others, it’s story dates all the way […]

According to much of the Western Anime community, this series wouldn’t be relevant for a site like this. Being made in the West by Americans, and English being its first language, many would disqualify it from the start. However I name them all fools for Castlevania, Directed by Sam Deats and Ryoichi Uchikoshi is clearly […]